By Allison Lampert
LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's biggest market program in Las Vegas luxury jets are tempting purchasers with their sleek silhouettes, luxurious cabins - and increasingly, their usage of alternative fuels.
Fuel producers and jetmakers are keen to display novel kinds of air travel fuel considered less damaging to the environment, from used cooking oil to the clearly less attractive meat waste.
Business jet operators, like airlines, have actually bowed to ecological pressure on air travel and committed to cutting in half carbon emissions by 2050 compared with 2005.
Their hope is that adopting renewable fuel to suppress emissions might make company jets more attractive to ecologically conscious buyers - especially corporations facing questions over sustainability from investors or green campaign groups.
The availability of less jets might likewise spare the abundant and well-known the negative promotion experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his other half Meghan over a recent private jet trip to southern France.
Five Gulfstream jets on display in Las Vegas are using California-produced fuel from inedible beef tallow.
The most recent waste-based fuels consist of "fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food market," said Bryan Sherbacow, chief business officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste utilized by Gulfstream.
"All of our item is inedible."
Some of the other 79 airplane on display screen are anticipated to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other renewable fuel mixes anticipated to be pumped at the program.
FLIGHT SHAMING
Private jets represent less than 0.1% of total annual carbon emissions globally, but can emit, on average, approximately 20 times more carbon emissions per passenger mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.
Prince Harry has actually defended his periodic usage of private jets to guarantee his family's safety, and has said that on the unusual celebrations he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.
But planemakers say events such as the furore over his itinerary have actually included fresh obstacles for a market currently striving to validate its contribution to cutting business expenses.
"Incidents of flight shaming involving the use of private jets are regrettable when you consider that our industry has actually provided fuel efficiency improvements of 40% over the previous 40 years," stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.
Bombardier thinks increased sustainable fuel usage will help the industry make inroads with corporations and rich purchasers. According to market data, billionaires only have a 19% business jet ownership rate.
But even an image makeover - with jets sporting sticker labels like "this airplane flies on sustainable fuels" and organisers including alternative fuel pumps for checking out planes - is not likely to please all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet occasion.
Environmentalists and some analysts stay skeptical that biojetfuels, typically mixed 50-50 with kerosene, will make a substantial influence on public understandings about high-end travel.
"No amount of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make company jets look eco-friendly," said aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia.
Demand from service jet operators for renewable fuels now far goes beyond supply and their interest could drive future production, Sherbacow stated.
World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of biofuel at its California plant, might expand production up to 150 million gallons by 2022.
Corporate charter business and specialists are likewise seeing more interest from clients who want to purchase carbon credits to balance out emissions from their flights.
Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, said emissions played a role in a business jet utilization research study his business recently finished for a Fortune 500 company.
"At the end of the day, I believe that cost, expense per hour, range, speed and efficiency, that's still the (sales) motorist. But I think people are becoming more familiar with the sustainability of operations and how it affects the world." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)
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Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show
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